I am a senior lecturer in the Department of Communication and Journalism. Previously, I was a postdoctoral researcher on the ERC-funded DigitalValues project directed by Prof. Limor Shifman and I received my PhD from the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado Boulder in May 2019. My research examines how technologies such as ratings, reviews, engagement metrics, and recommendation systems shape cultural notions of value and worth. I study these processes through the analysis of 1) platforms, 2) user-generated content, and 3) public controversies. My analysis of infrastructure investigates both how digital platforms measure and act upon notions of value and how people navigate metrics and algorithmic governance in return. My analysis of user-generated content treats posts shared to social media as little assertions of value  —  a claim that "this matters" or "this is important to me"  — and identifies patterned forms of engagement like genres or social media rituals. Finally, my analysis of public controversies like the Facebook Emotional Contagion focuses on the platform values, norms, and expectations that often go unspoken.

Research Interests

Algorithmic culture
Digital labor
Evaluation
Social media

Selected Publications

Tommaso Trillò, Blake Hallinan, and Limor Shifman (2022). "A Typology of Social Media Rituals." Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. Online First: 1-11.

Blake Hallinan, Rebecca Scharlach, and Limor Shifman (2022). “Beyond Neutrality: Conceptualizing Platform Values.” Communication Theory 32, no.2: 201-222.

Blake Hallinan, Bumsoo Kim, Saki Mizoroki, Rebecca Scharlach, Tommaso Trillò, Mike Thelwall, Elad Segev, and Limor Shifman (2021). “The Value(s) of Social Media Rituals: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of New Year’s Resolutions.” Information, Communication, & Society. Online First: 1-21.

Blake Hallinan, Bumsoo Kim, Rebecca Scharlach, Tommaso Trillò, Saki Mizoroki, and Limor Shifman (2021). “Mapping the Transnational Imaginary of Social Media Genres.” New Media & Society. Online First: 1-25.

Blake Hallinan and Jed R. Brubaker (2021). “Living with Everyday Evaluations on Social Media Platforms.” International Journal of Communication 15: 1551–1569.

Blake Hallinan and James N. Gilmore (2021). “Infrastructural Politics Amidst the Coils of Control.” Introduction to a special issue on Infrastructural Politics. Cultural Studies 35, nos. 4-5: 617-640.

Blake Hallinan (2021). “Civilizing Infrastructure.” Cultural Studies 35, nos. 4-5: 707-727.

CJ Reynolds and Blake Hallinan (2021). “The Haunting of GeoCities and the Politics of Access Control on the Early Web.” New Media & Society 23, no.11: 3268-3289.

Blake Hallinan and Ted Striphas (2016). “Recommended for you: The Netflix Prize and the Production of Algorithmic Culture.” New Media & Society 18, no. 6: 117-137.

Awards

Top Faculty Paper in the Visual Communication Division, International Communication Association (2021)

Top Student Paper in the Philosophy, Theory, and Critique Division, International Communication Association (2019)